snowmash's cybergarden - spring edition

[madmouse]

hello

Sorry to hear about your neighbour - and buckets of good luck to her.

Sleep well - and same to all.

Good afternoon all - I slept in then went to supermarket, not the nearest but in a town where I used to live, which is a pretty drive away. Rain started sprinkling last night and is due all week, so today seemed the day for any expeditions. A bit more rain today, but can't remember when we last had proper stuff - months ago.

Hope all are well, and no-one's stuck half-way through outdoor painting

< Takes deep breaths of TIANC's glorious orange blossoms > Best of luck to your neighbour facing chemotherapy , shodatin , & as for you supposedly feeling sorry for yourself re: dosage increase ... if I'd forced myself to undergo a course of chemo, I'd tell myself the side effects of this increase must be rotten indeed for brave self to be discomfited by them.

Thank you so much shodatin & TIANC for bringing even more laughter to this household with your hilarious family beagles. The mental image of hound under neighbouring pillows is outrageous. How lovely to trot off to play with the children in the playground.

Thank you so, so much TIANC - your words mean a great deal to me but I genuinely feel a huge fraud because when I'm wondering if you're OK , a lot of the symptoms I'm thinking of are based on those of an old school friend who was struck down with ME and to whom I behaved very insensitively at the time - ringing up for chats not thinking about how tiring it was for her etc ... Friend was the most active person ever and the illness caused her great anguish , which she didn't complain of , but she described the difficulties clearly & they remain vivid in my mind.

I do worry about snowmash and shodatin and TIANC having flareups of their health conditions ... even the memory of the isolation caused by bouts of illness, and by the world not being geared to those with limitations , is a cause of PTSD for people who've been through it all , let alone when we have to plan for possible recurrences. . I don't have ME, & the condition I have doesn't usually make you feel as comprehensively "ill" as ME , so I feel very claustrophobic for those have been through that & admire your courage. Confronting some of my fears about all this is helping me to plan better.

What magnificently enjoyable posts to read / respond to ...I will return when I can, hopefully with amusing cat tales.

That sounds a lovely trip out, shodatin ... I love a meander round the aisles, but best of all to have a leafy journey there. Had enough rain here again to save on evening watering, so I hope the same goes for all our gardeners ...v windy, though- bet bees dislike the wind < off to read manual on cyberbeekeeping >

Hope madmouse, kizzie, butterpie and particularly snowmash are OK today.

You're always so understanding and kind hob, thanks you for posting, and yes please, do tell us about your cat. Is this the one who "calls" you ?
This must be result of a special closeness we only get with special pets, and I really enjoy hearing about other people's animal relationships.

Also hearing more about other people's rain these days with just token amounts here; never known a year like this one for a dry garden.

Am under instructions from DP to have early night, so just a quick in our garden before I turn in.

Glad you got a pleasant trip out today, shodatin - how clever to time it just before the rain, which must surely come properly soon. Glad you got enough to avoid watering, hob.

Keep as well as you can, everybody, and here's wishing us all good, refreshing sleep and a good day tomorrow.

Your DP is right about an early night, TIANC, I should have done it too, instead of staying up until too tired to think about signing off. Hope we all had a good night. Am off to renew house flowers before next shower arrives - it's lovely and sunny outside at present.

The beagle story and the playground is sooo sweet :-)

Shodatin Ive looked back and I cant find your post about increased doseage - but Im so struck by your incredible resilience to everything. I bow in admiration.

Ive had a bit of a knock to my confidence after having having a really good couple of weeks. Quite shaky but im trying to stick to my mantra which is always just to try and improve things by 10%. (Makes things more bearable but not an impossible target - how difficult can it be ??!!)

Real rain storms here today ... out of the blue.

Take care all x

Hi everyone , agreeing with you shodatin & TIANC's DP about sensible bedtime, as I rarely manage to say goodnight by my actual bedtime .

Hope you got that perfect combination of showers and bright sunshine my little plot has enjoyed today . Am pleased to see lots of butterflies this last few days , as there seemed to be fewer around this year . Many bees about , though .

< hive still not delivered to cybergarden ... anytime now !!! >

Sorry your confidence has been knocked , kizzie, after many days of progress . Your idea of 10% improvement helps me massively with the things I'm trying to change . Hope you have the chance to have some tiime to yourself to do something uplifting .

Hope TIANC is having a good day and that madmouse and butterpie are well . Most of all , we all hope you have positive things happening , snowmash.

Still delighted with the bedhopping beagles

Hi kizzie, sorry you've been having a difficult time, I wonder if you've decided what to do next time it happens? I used to find that helpful, although I do like your idea of 10percent improvement. Hope you give yourself a treat after managing something well; hob's right about time to yourself.
I'm just supposed to increase one of the drugs, but feel dopey if I do, like today, so will do another dopey-day next week and hope it gets easier. Thanks very much for the encouragement. Hope your poorly plants are improving.

HiHob, I'm glad we're having cyber-hives and wish I knew something about bees. One once landed on my lower-lip, while pegging out washing with arms full. I forced myself to stay still and calm, and it flew off , probably looking for moisture, but I've not been nervous since. Am delaying pruning creeping campanula as they still love it, although nearly dead now, and I think it will bloom again if I cut it back soon enough.
Poached-egg plants looking good and strong, and second lot have germinated
so hopefully they'll last the summer - and I think of you when inspecting them.
Will say goodnight now, and hope we can all enjoy an early night.
Snowmash - Hope things are going well for you. Would you like some snacks?

How lovely that your poached-egg plants are thriving, shodatin. A wonderful reward for all your hard work watering. And you've actually had showers! Hurray! Hope they carry on and give the soil a good drenching.

Eek at the lip-landing bee! Hat off to you for staying calm and averting disaster!

Hope today's dopiness was bearable, and you don't have to put up with it much longer. So good you managed to go out flower-gathering in spite of it.

kizzie so sorry you've had such a knock. This is what we were talking about a while back, isn't it? It's wonderful when one's general level improves - but the dips feel so much worse in comparison. Just when one has relaxed, with courage no longer screwed to the sticking place.

But it doesn't mean you're relapsing, I hope. Just that this is one of those storms you knew you'd get: thoroughly unpleasant, but an expected part of the voyage. Lots of hard work knotting and splicing afterwards, then off you sail again. Love shodatin's idea of giving yourself a treat for managing to come through.

hob am filled with delight to hear of your butterflies.

Hope madmouse, snowmash and butterpie have found similar pleasures. Can we have swallowtails in the cybergarden? We could plant some milk-parsley for the caterpillars by the pond in the lower orchard.

Anyway, def bed time here. Sleep well all, and hope we wake rested and refreshed.

What a gorgeous post TIANC , with your description of repairing one's boat after rough seas , and your link to the magnificent swallowtail plus choice of perfect spot for it in the cybergarden . Hope you've had a good day , and the same to snowmash , shodatin, kizzie and madmouse.

Glad you got through your experiment shodatin, and hope you feel better for it in the long run . I'm united in terror with TIANC at your over friendly bee and hope I remember to be as calm as you when a cyberbee does that !Thank you so much for kind news of your poached egg plants . Am fond of creeping campanula too .

Lovely evening to all

Hello again hob, and thanks for news of butterflies. I'm sure we can have swallowtails in the cyber-garden, although I've only ever seen one, I did have time to study it. We were picknicking in the dunes at one of the Norfolk beaches when one came along and settled on DH's back, where of course he was unable to see it. Maybe it mistook him for an enormous great flower, as he was wearing a bright yellow golfing sweater, and something about it kept the swallowtail in place for minutes. Have not seen one before or since, but that was unforgettable.
It's been a good day thankyou, as I felt normal and recovered by lunchtime, so maybe it will become easier - hope so. This morning I bumped into an old acquaintance, now undergoing chemo etc. so once again I felt my life is really alright and I shouldn't be complaining. Hope everyone else had a good day.
Does anyone know what these witches signify? [hconfused]

[hshock][hshock] What an absolutely amazing story about the swallowtail staying on your dh , shodatin - what a lovely image . The swallowtail is TIANC's - I can't claim credit!
Glad you recovered a bit sooner than you might have expected and sorry aquaintance is unwell .
Gorgeous evening here - beautiful purple twilight and now a bright moon . The witch & wizard hats are to mark the release of the final Harry Potter film [hsmile]

Glad you were feeling better by lunchtime, shodatin. What a great butterfly story. I only seem to attract wasps and bees - after using herb-y shampoo. Eek! Mistake! (Glad I'd forgotten this when reading lip-bee story yesterday.)

Ooh, what a gorgeous sounding evening, hob. Hope you've had a good day. And thanks for the illumination about [hhmm][hshock][hgrin]. I know I lose track of the date, but I was double-taking there for a bit!

Tired here, spent too much energy following the news this week. But worth it. [hsmile]

Plain old , tho. Nowt wrong w' that!

Off to bed for another early one. Hope we all get some decent rest, and wake bright and shiny the morn. Sleep well.

Hi TIANC and sorry I forgot the swallowtails were your idea, like many of our cyber-garden attractions. Forgetting who-said-what is happening in RL too, I'm afraid, and probably part of creeping old age.
Sorry to hear you've got over-tired again this week, do you actually have a break at the weekend, I wonder? Apart from following the news, I think we've all been spending time gardening, which can be exhausting (particularly watering...)
Hope you enjoy a refreshing sleep and feel energetic again tomorrow.

Beautiful evening here too, hob, particularly the moon.
Grateful for explanation of witches, but am surprised so many people are interested in HP, and never would have guessed the connection.
The creeping campanula was self-sown years ago, and I keep potting up seedlings for admirers. Do you have this, or shall I send you some? Have not seen it in seed packets lately, like the limnanthes.
Time for bed, I think, so will say "goodnight" and hope we all have a peaceful night.

My last post says "time for bed", and it's getting on for that time again.
Hope everyone had a good day, and no-one got caught in the semi-tropical storms we had earlier - water bouncing white off neighbours' roof means there may be garden damage. Another lovely moon in calm sky at present.

Oh no shodatin , really , really hope your garden isn't damaged , and no significant harm was done to neighbouring gardens either . What a vivid description of the fearsome event .Keeping everything crossed that morning won't reveal any nasty surprises.

Really sorry I didn't manage to say morning all before going out - you'd think it would be simple enough , but can I manage it - and hope all have been having a good day , as I was fortunate to have today - good chats , long lost friends I've really missed , and our little meeting room was packed with people come to see an Egyptian trade unionist talk about life there atm.

Hoping you can see the bright moon , snowmash and that TIANC's herby aroma has caused her no further trouble today & she feels a little more rested now after week cramming brain with information. at you wondering whether we'd reached Halloween already - not just me , then.

Hope garden isn't damaged, shodatin. Sounds interesting day, hob.

Hope everyone else also having a good one. Sorry for short post.

Night all, sleep well.

Good night all, thanks for good wishes.

Morning all -realliy hope a survey of garden hasn't shown up significant damage , shodatin , and that we're all OK today .

Hi TIANC , hope you're having a good weekend and getting a well- earned rest.

Beekeper tending the hiving on the allotments here just now , apparently using smoke - must look that up .

Slugs eating doing all too well here ( but so far my little delphinium plants remain unmunched ) and all sorts of aphids are thriving, even in the porch "greenhouse"...Very excited to see little cobs on my sweetcorn - I knew they were amusing in the way they grow but this is ridiculous .

Sweetcorn's really good gardening news, hob, sorry about slugs of course, but how are you protecting delphiniums? Nothing damaged on my plot either, must have been mainly noise from rain bouncing off roof rather than flattening plants.
Today's gardening section of newspaper has big article on bees, so I'll read it and keep it I think, or maybe give it to Thai friend, who is making a big effort to be interested rather than afraid of them - maybe Asian ones are fiercer.
I remember you can use part of a friend's allotment, hob, do you have a time limit agreement or are you planning long term? Could you have chickens? (I'd really love to have two or three pottering about and eating slugs, wasps etc.)

Too tired to stay up much longer, so will wish everyone a good night, and a good day tomorrow.

Oh that's great the garden isn't damaged, shodatin. And I hope it's well soaked.

hob ooh, baby sweetcorn! Do they have little tassels? I'm shamefully ignorant about growing corn. Sympathy about slugs and aphids. [hhmm]

We've been gardening too, today, so I have something to share with you all: